Sunday 20 May 2018

Sun, weddings, football, and Evensong

Glorious weather, a Royal wedding, and two football cup finals.  How could Saturday 19th May 2018 be any better?

Well, the answer to that of course is connected to 38 singers, a musical director, and an organist making their collective way south from Scotland to the awesome Durham Cathedral to sing Choral Evensong.

We absolutely LOVED Durham, a true high spot in our choir's ten year history, we were made to feel very welcome, and we look forward to a return visit at some time in the future.

Directed as ever by the wonderful Frikki Walker, we sang the responses by Herbert Sumsion (very appropriate since they were written by him for Richard Lloyd and Durham Cathedral choir), Sir John Stainer's B flat setting of the Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis, and the somewhat epic Evening Hymn by Henry Balfour Gardiner, so plenty opportunity for our organist Kevin Duggan to explore the tubas and 32' stops of the magnificent cathedral organ, the showpiece of Durham based organ builders Harrison & Harrison .

That draws to a close the first half of the 2018 season of RSCM Scottish Voices, other than us singing as part of the massed choirs at the 2018 RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival in Dundee on 2nd June, as well as during that service singing Let all mortal flesh keep silence by Bairstow as our own contribution on the day.

We have exciting trips in the second half of the year, with visits to St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, Dunblane Cathedral, and Kings College Chapel in Aberdeen, but before all of them we are very much looking forward to our residential rehearsal weekend in August when we will be returning to the Scottish Police College to learn some repertoire and to socialise together.  Both very important activities!

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